The present invention generally relates to a fiber optic booster connector.
Fiber optic lines may be used in a subsea field for such purposes as communicating with or controlling and monitoring devices that are disposed on the seabed or in the well. More specifically, the fiber optic lines may be contained inside a cable or umbilical. The cable, in turn, may be formed from a series of concatenated cable segments that are optically and mechanically coupled together by connectors. Thus, for example, a particular fiber optic line of the cable may include a fiber optic line from each cable segment.
The range of the fiber optic line (and thus, the length of the fiber optic line) is limited by optical losses that are introduced by the fiber optic medium and connections (fiber optic line splices or connections made by cable connectors) of the fiber optic line. These optical losses attenuate the optical signal that is provided by the transmitter at the source end of the cable so that at the receiver end of the cable, the optical signal may have a significantly diminished amplitude. The optical signal that is received from a fiber optic line of the cable must have a minimum strength to satisfy signal-to-noise criteria. The optical losses increase with cable length and the number of connectors, and thus, these factors limit the range of the fiber optic line.
As a more specific example, FIG. 1 depicts the optical power 10 of an optical signal versus the distance from an optical transmitter. The optical signal propagates from the optical transmitter at one end of the fiber optic line to the other end of the fiber optic line. As shown at reference numeral 11, the optical power 10 has its peak near the transmitter. At a distance D4 from the transmitter, the optical power 10 is at its minimum, as depicted at reference numeral 20. Thus, the optical power 10 generally declines with the distance from the transmitter. The general decline is attributable to fiber optic medium losses as well as connection losses that are introduced by connections in the fiber optic line.
More particularly, at reference numerals 12 and 16, the optical power 10 decreases relatively abruptly due to cable connectors that are located at distances D1 and D3, respectively, from the transmitter. As shown at reference numeral 14, the optical power 10 also decreases relatively abruptly due to a splice in the fiber optic line at a distance D2 from the transmitter.
For many different type of applications, it is desirable to maximize the range of fiber optic communications. Therefore, there is a continuing need for an arrangement to extend the range of a fiber optic communication link.